


> entry thirteen: splintered body, whole heart

by orphan_account



Series: Shards of Hyalus [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Temporary Character Death, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 19:50:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7282348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one shots that recount the lore of <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/6987550/chapters/15923113">Mirror Image</a>, and will be narrated by David Strider (Alpha Dave), the Late King of Skaia.<br/>We all know Hal has an android/cyborg body, from comments made in the main fic, but how did it happen? This entry recounts the trouble Dirk went through to bring his brother back from the dead, and gives an idea of what happened as a consequence.</p>
            </blockquote>





	> entry thirteen: splintered body, whole heart

not all of us are made to handle our powers, this became the case for hal strider, while most generations have had domain over time, a few had domain over heart, hal was...is one of these few.

heart represents the soul, at least thats what ive learned, my shtick is time so dont ask me. those with domain over it understand it better, they know how to manipulate it, know how to understand others, but they tend to not understand themselves. its a dangerous aspect, one that could fracture your soul to disrepair. you can lose yourself, or worse cease to exist. hal was reckless with his powers, splintered his soul to give “life” to many of his, as well as dirks, inventions. this began to take its toll on more than his soul, it began to affect his physical body, damage it, and ultimately it killed him. dirk blamed himself for allowing hal to be so reckless, locked himself away in his workshop, refused to let the body be cremated, he had other plans. he was going to bring his brother back if it was the last thing he did.

They were thirteen when hal died, while dave and crow were ten, dirk spent three years on this project, he repaired the body the only way he could, he’d be part machine, if dirk could bring him back. finally, on their sixteenth birthday, dirk travelled to the forge, it was the spark of life on skaia, so maybe it could bring him back, right? he knew the legends, a soul could cross back to this side of the forge it wouldn’t need a body. Problem was that hals soul was splintered, only a part of it was beyond the forge. dirk managed to collect each piece of it from their old projects and put it into this new body, he was just missing the final piece, the one that was dead. it wouldnt be able to cross over like the legends claimed, dirk would have to force it through and into a body that had the rest of hals soul. to do that, he had to meet the denizens of the dreaming dead and waking world, echidna and hephaestus, the forge was their meeting place, he’d planned this three years ago to the letter, and nothing would stand in his way, not the gods, ancient denizens nor omnipotent first guardians, he didnt spend three years pushing his family and friends away only to fail. hed lost all social skills in those three years of isolation, without hal hed have no one, he couldn’t let that happen.

skaianet was built right above the entrance to the forge, and being the crown prince, dirk would have free access to it. actually no, hes just best bros with jake harley, the grandson of skaianets founder, and son of the lead researcher at the time, so he got a free pass. doesnt hurt to have contacts you know. so he makes his way to the entrance of the forge, and follows the caverns until he reaches the lair of echidna, a meeting she was expecting. he enters and there she is coiling around the features of the large cavern. near her a large flame glows. she speaks to the boy, in an ancient language, and to his surprise, he soon realises he understands her, as if by her will to understand her. i was certain only those aligned to space could understand her, but turns out i know jack shit about denizens and what theyre like.

anyway she tells him that hephaestus is there even though dirk couldnt see him, and that she speaks for the both of them. she already knows what he wants, she tells him that he has to make a choice, she tells him that a splintered soul cannot leave the afterlife so he has two options. she can splinter dirks soul enough of it to trade it for hals fineal splinter, or he can hand over the rest of hals splinters so she can make it whole and let him live out his afterlife until they meet again. dirk is stubborn, he wont allow the past three years to go to waste, he agrees to let her take a part of his soul in exchange for the final piece of hals. once the trade is done she tells him that they must both abdicate, dirks soul is no longer complete, while hals is still in pieces, even if it was patched up. although the agreement is implied, he nods anyway, and takes the soul, now in a shard of glass, like the rest of them. he asks one last favour of her, and she complies, sending him home with her magic.

now back in his workshop he places the final glass splinter into the body, it fits perfectly, a completed glass heart, he turns it on. the uncanny voice of his brother, who would now be three years behind in maturity, essentially the same age as the younger twins. his now robotic fills dirks ears: 

"Dirk?”  
“I’m here.”

**Author's Note:**

> Dirk has gone through alot to revive his brother, and it cost him in more ways than one, neither of them have been able to fully recover from the consequences.


End file.
